Archive for April 16th, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The newly-proposed security law to replace the Internal Security Act (ISA) must be reviewed to ensure it is in line with human rights principles, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said today.

Suhakam highlighted that the Bill did not provide for judicial oversight in the extension of the detention period for up to 28 days, and expressed concerns over how it gave police the power to deny detainees immediate access to legal representation.

It added that the power to intercept communications under Clause 4(6) should be exercised through a court order rather than by the police, as it could “infringe personal liberty and the right to privacy”.

“The provisions in the Bill as well as the amendments to the other relevant laws must strike a balance between national security and fundamental liberties and human rights,” Suhakam Chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said in a statement today.

“The Commission looks forward to further and continuing engagements with the government agencies… to ensure that obsolete and irrelevant laws are abolished and replaced by laws that are consistent with universally accepted human rights principles,” he added. Read the rest of this entry »

APRIL 16 — This is what we learnt today. We learnt that Najib Razak is in his element when making promises. He will sound like a true believer when you give him the floor, as they did in Parliament today.

He promised “more reforms”. I love it that he assumes that his replacement laws are reforms and that Idris Jala’s sleight of hand EPP, ETP and GTP qualify as real change.

He will do away with the Publishing and Printing Presses Act and amend the Sedition Act, he said, but left out a time frame. This is a superb tactic given that it is likely this is the last Parliament session before the polls!

Najib is a prime minister who will say anything and pretend to do something to win our votes. He said today that the era of the “government knows best” is over. Are you sure? Read the rest of this entry »

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Lim Guan Eng today pushed the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) to issue a public apology to all “victims of the ISA (Internal Security Act)”, insisting that this was the only way to prove the government’s sincerity in repealing the controversial preventive law.

Lim, who was himself an ISA detainee during Operasi Lalang in 1987, told the Dewan Rakyat today that so long as BN refuses to apologise, its proposed repeal of the Act would be merely be a “evil ploy” to continue wielding the law’s powers under a different guise and form.

The DAP secretary-general noted that many provisions in the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill still infringe basic human rights although the element of “detention without trial” is scrapped.

“Is BN ready to openly apologise to all victims of the ISA?

“As long as it refuses to do so to seek closure, it raises doubt that abolishing the ISA today is merely a game and an evil ploy to continue using the Act but in a different guise and form,” he told the House when debating the Bill.

“This black mark of the ISA in our history must be buried forever and this cannot be done if the government does not apologise and guarantee that such iron-fisted laws like the ISA will not be repeated,” he added. Read the rest of this entry »

Publicity chief Tony Pua claimed the Port Klang Authority (PKA), which comes under the Transport Ministry, has decided to withdraw all legal action against turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) for failing to carry out RM1.6 billion in work.

He said the MCA secretary-general “is doing everything in his means to dismantle and reverse all painstakingly agreed steps to get to the bottom of the scandal and cover up for all guilty parties.”

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said in a statement the suits related to “double and fictitious billings for works never carried out and excessive charges to PKA.”

Pua claimed that PKA has agreed to proceed to arbitration instead despite the “obvious criminality of the alleged offences” by KDSB, whose then chief executive was Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, the current Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers’ chief.

“Kong and new PKA chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poh have conspired to reverse the decision as well as many other decisions which were taken previously by PKA,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

My first three essays dealt with the challenges facing kampong schools and how we could leverage technology to alleviate those problems. I discussed enhancing the educational opportunities through improving the schools, recruiting superior teachers, and enriching the curriculum. Failure to do so would doom these unfortunate students to perpetual mediocrity and poverty, with dire consequences for them as well as the rest of Malaysia. This essay explores ways of maximizing the potential of residential schools. Again here as with kampong schools, we are dealing primarily with Malay students.

Our residential schools get the top students, have the best teachers, and consume more than their fair share of resources. Yet their aggregate performance has been underwhelming. When I visit top American campuses, the Malaysians I meet there are from other than our supposedly elite residential schools. That is the most telling indicator.

Malaysia’s oldest residential school, Malay College Kuala Kangsar, only recently (June 2011) started a matriculation program, the International Baccalaureate. Despite the luminaries on its board and the institution’s special status, it took a full decade to implement the program. Imagine the glacial pace at lesser institutions!Read the rest of this entry »

Twelve windscreens of cars belonging to DAP members were smashed in Mas Gading constituency whilst the owners were attending a campaign dinner.

BAU: Sarawak DAP’s launch last night of its campaign to wrest the Mas Gading parliamentary seat, which is a Bidayuh-majority constituency, was marred by a group of motorcyclists who smashed the windscreens of 12 cars while the owners were attending a party dinner at Kampung Sg. Pinang.

Local and national DAP leaders were addressing more than 1,000 people at the dinner when a group of motor cyclists were seen smashing the windscreens of the cars which were parked quite a distance from the venue.

Commenting on the incident, visibly upset Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said: “Obviously it was a sabotage work by BN members or their supporters.

“Such behaviour only goes to show they are afraid of us. Only cowards do that sort of thing; only someone who is in fear will do a dirty tactic trying to scare the people,” he said.

Chong added that neither the car owners nor the crowd were perturbed by the attacks, as they had come to terms with such ‘scare tactics’ by the ruling regime. Read the rest of this entry »